National Center for Public Policy Research

The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) began operations in 1982. It was created to present the conservative perspective on issues of significant public concern. As its first project, it exposed human rights abuses by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It then fought against a proposed "nuclear freeze" and began supporting the Reagan Administration's policies regarding Central America. It now calls itself a "communications and research foundation dedicated to providing free market solutions to today's public policy problems."

History
In 1997, NCPPR opposed action on global warming at an international summit in Kyoto, Japan. It established the Kyoto Earth Summit Information Center, issued an "Earth Summit Fact Sheet" and fed anti-treaty quotes to the media through a "free interview locator service" that offered "assistance to journalists seeking interviews with leading scientists, economists and public policy experts on global warming."

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, NCPPR began using the rhetoric of anti-terrorism to attack environmentalists. In May 2002, it created the Envirotruth web site, to attack what it called the "jihad" that environmental activists are waging against corporations. 

Office bearers

 * Amy Moritz Ridenour Chairman/President was paid $155,000 in 2002.
 * Jay W. Timmons Director
 * David A. Ridenour Vice-President/Secretary was paid $130,000 in 2002.
 * Victor Porlier, Director
 * Edmund F. Haislmaier, Director
 * Horace Cooper, Director

Staff

 * Amy Moritz Ridenour Chairman/President
 * David A. Ridenour Vice-President
 * David Almasi, executive director
 * Samual Baugh, Assoc Director of Development
 * Laura Lopez, Director of Administration
 * Bonner Cohen, Senior Fellow
 * Dana Joel Gattuso, Senior Fellow
 * Eric Peters, Senior Fellow
 * Brian Seacholes, Senior Fellow
 * Ryan Balis, Policy Analyst
 * Nickie Kelley, Office Manager
 * Julianna Ustica, Administrative Assistant
 * Joe Roche, Adjunct Fellow (on military duty)
 * Candace C. Crandall, Adjunct Fellow (wife of S. Fred Singer)
 * Commander Chip Beck (USNR-Ret.), Adjunct Fellow
 * Gerald Marsh, Science Advisor

Funders

 * Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.
 * Carthage Foundation
 * Castle Rock Foundation
 * Earhart Foundation
 * John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
 * Sarah Scaife Foundation

In 2002 ExxonMobil donated $30,000 for "educational activities" and a further $15,000 for general support. In 2003 the company boosted its general operating support to $25,000 with another $30,000 for 'global climate change/EnviroTruth website".

According to the organization's 2002 IRS return, total revenue was $6.6 million, with $399,080 spent on fundraising consultancy fees to a Virginia direct mail company, Response Dynamics Inc..

While NCPPR is keen to scrutinize the fundraising and advocacy of organizations it disagrees with, it has come in for criticism itself. In 1998, the San Francisco Examiner reporter Diana Walsh reviewed the rise of direct mail campaigns using scare tactics to raise funds from senior citizens. Walsh reported that in one four month period, 86 year old senior citizen, Faye Shelby, received 685 letters from 78 organizations. 160 of the fundraising pitches were from NCPPR.

Amy Moritz Ridenour told the Examiner that anyone receiving more than a dozen solicitations in a month probably was on mailing lists the National Center "rented" from other organizations, which she said were outside her control. When lists are rented, a group pays to use the list but for proprietary reasons isn't allowed to look at individual names or cross reference for duplications on their own lists. Ridenour also said an emotional pitch was vital to raising funds. "People seem to respond better to emotion than they do with letters that have lots and lots of facts. You have to give something that is light enough that people will be willing to read it upon receipt. . . . If they don't read it right at that moment, all the studies show they never will."

Affiliated organizations

 * NCPPR's projects include Project 21, a conservative African American organization that opposes affirmative action and the minimum wage and has issued news releases in support of genetically modified foods. Project 21 has been funded by R.J. Reynolds, and it has lobbied in support of tobacco industry interests, opposing FDA regulation of the industry, excise taxes and other government policies to reduce tobacco use.
 * NCPPR's Ridenour sits on the board of directors of Black America's PAC.

Contact information
National Center for Public Policy Research 777 N. Capitol St. NE #803 Washington, D.C. 20002 Phone: (202) 371-1400 Fax: (202) 408-7773 Email: info@nationalcenter.org http://www.nationalcenter.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Amy Moritz Ridenour

External resources

 * "National Center for Public Policy Research, Inc.", Media Transparency, accessed May 2005.

External articles

 * "Diana Walsh, "The Fear Merchants," San Francisco Examiner, February 8, 1998, p. A1.
 * Bill Berkowitz, "The National Center for Public Policy Research: Tom DeLay's Right Arm", Media Transparency, May 2, 2005.
 * James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt, "Senate Report: Five Nonprofit Groups Sold Clout to Abramoff," Washington Post, October 12, 2006.
 * Press release, "Black Activists Call on Obama to Condemn Race-Baiting Tactics in Health Care Debate," National Center for Public Policy Research / Project 21, August 7, 2009.